ISSN:
1089-7674
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
Due to their particular properties, the beams of the multi-MeV protons generated during the interaction of ultraintense (I〉1019 W/cm2) short pulses with thin solid targets are most suited for use as a particle probe in laser-plasma experiments. The recently developed proton imaging technique employs the beams in a point-projection imaging scheme as a diagnostic tool for the detection of electric fields in laser-plasma interaction experiments. In recent investigations carried out at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL, UK), a wide range of laser-plasma interaction conditions of relevance for inertial confinement fusion (ICF)/fast ignition has been explored. Among the results obtained will be discussed: the electric field distribution in laser-produced long-scale plasmas of ICF interest; the measurement of highly transient electric fields related to the generation and dynamics of hot electron currents following ultra-intense laser irradiation of targets; the observation in underdense plasmas, after the propagation of ultra-intense laser pulses, of structures identified as the remnants of solitons produced in the wake of the pulse. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1459457
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